Stobaeus, Volume II

Name: Stobaeus, Volume II
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek and English with an introduction and explanatory footnotes.

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Stobaeus, Volume IIBook II Chapter 8 · II.8.40

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Ancient Greek Page · Branch 307 of 516

Book II Chapter 8 · II.8.40

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Ancient Greek

p. 610

Ἐν ταὐτῷ

II.8.40

Διοικεῖται γὰρ τὸ ζῷον ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν τῇδε προσήκουσαν αὐτῷ διάζησιν. Ἔχει δὲ ὁ βίος ὁ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τὸ κατάλληλον τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ αὐτεξούσιον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ. Διὸ κἂν ἄγηται ὑπὸ προθυμιῶν φυσικῶν πρός τινα τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἐν αἱρέσει πιπτόντων βίων, ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ αὑτῷ ἔχει τὸ μὴ ἐμπεσεῖν, κἂν πάντως ἐμπέσῃ. Ὅσα γὰρ τῇ πιθανῇ φαντασίᾳ συγκατατιθέμεθα διὰ τὸ πιθανόν, ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν καὶ τὸ μὴ συγκατατίθεσθαι, ὅ τι μὴ ἡ φαντασία σύρει ἡμᾶς καὶ νευροσπαστεῖ πρὸς αὐτήν.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 8

p. 611

From the same work

II.8.40

For each living creature is governed according to the mode of life appropriate to it here. Human life has within itself the self-government appropriate to a human being. Therefore, even if someone is led by natural inclinations toward one of the ways of life available for choice here, he still has it in his power not to enter it, even if in fact he does enter it.⁸⁵⁷ For in all cases in which we assent to a persuasive impression because it is persuasive, withholding assent is nevertheless also up to us, since the impression does not drag us toward itself or pull us like a puppet.⁸⁵⁸

857.Here refers to embodied life. Αὐτεξούσιον continues the term self-government, while προθυμίαι are inclinations or eager impulses. Being led toward a way of life is distinguished from being unable to refrain from entering it. The concession κἂν πάντως ἐμπέσῃ, even if in fact he does enter it, is retained: the occurrence of a choice is not itself described as unavoidable necessity.

858.Συγκατατίθεσθαι means to assent to or accept an impression, rather than merely to receive one. Πιθανός means persuasive; the passage does not thereby declare the impression true. Νευροσπαστεῖ introduces the image of a puppet moved by strings. The claim is that an impression can be persuasive without mechanically compelling the assent of the person who receives it.

About This Reading Edition

The complete surviving text of Stobaeus’s second book, through II.46.22, in Ancient Greek and English, with an introduction and 1,541 explanatory notes. All forty-six chapter headings remain, including the notices for chapters whose texts are missing.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Curt Wachsmuth, Ioannis Stobaei Anthologii libri duo priores, volumen II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1884), printed p. 1 and pp. 3–264. The supplied edition preserves consequential editorial signs, reconstructed joins, qualified attributions, and missing-text notices. English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 edition are in the public domain. The supplied English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are published with the site owner’s authorization.